Athletics dept. just beginning to change

University officials are just beginning to take concrete steps toward eliminating the athletics department's deficit, nearly three months after university President Wallace Loh announced eight Terrapins teams would be cut unless they could raise the money needed to fund their programs for the next eight years.

Although the President's Commission on Intercollege Athletics — the task force Loh assembled in July to address the department's $83 million debt — released a report in November outlining revenue-generating measures for the university to erase the deficit by 2015, officials said they are still in the planning stages of most of these changes. Meanwhile, the teams facing elimination — men's cross country, men's indoor track, men's outdoor track, men's tennis, men's and women's swimming and diving, acrobatics and tumbling and women's water polo — have been feverishly raising money since the announcement to reach the marks, they are all still millions of dollars short with less than five months left.

The report recommended the university upgrade Comcast Center to accommodate high-profile guests and performances, enhance the game-day atmosphere to garner more fans, rent out Byrd Stadium to outside groups, such as high school sports teams and cut administrative costs by 10 percent.

Associate Athletics Director Doug Dull said the department has recently begun discussing how to implement these initiatives, noting it has left several positions vacant to reduce expenses.

"Each of our sport programs and administrative units are exploring their operating budgets to ensure efficiency and find ways to reduce spending as much as possible while not affecting the competitiveness of the team or essential services to our student-athletes," Dull wrote in an email.

To survive past June 30, men's and women's swimming and diving must raise more than $11.5 million; men's track and women's acrobatics and tumbling must raise nearly $9.5 million; and women's water polo and men's tennis need about $8 million combined.

So far, a general fund has raised about $1 million to help save all eight teams; men's indoor and outdoor track has raised $61,943 in total; the acrobatics and tumbling team has secured $3,684; water polo has $8,244, while men's tennis has $333; and the men's and women's swimming and diving teams have raised $2,809, with an additional $1.5 million in pledged donations. If the teams do not raise sufficient funds, the money donated this year will be returned.

While the university has appointed two senior staff members to aid the teams in fundraising efforts, some student-athletes said it hasn't been enough.

"I'm one of the people on the team that acts as a liaison between my team and the administration … and it has been really frustrating because it's a lot of red tape and a lot of running in circles because no one has clear answers," said Becky Yep, a sophomore on the cross country team.

Some state legislators are calling on the administration to ease the teams' burden, saying the university has not done enough to give the teams a viable chance at saving their programs.

Del. Neil Parrott (R-Washington) and Del. Benjamin Kramer (D-Montgomery) wrote letters to Loh and, in a meeting last week, asked him to extend the teams' deadlines and to reduce the swimming and diving teams' fundraising goal by more than $2 million, the operating cost of Eppley Recreation Center Natatorium.

"The cost the university gave the fundraising effort was really far and above what they should be paying for," said Parrott, who was involved in the university's swimming and diving team as a student at this university.

"They need to come up with a cost that's reasonable and a cost that truly would be just for the swim team," Parrott said, adding that giving the students just six months to fundraise millions of dollars seemed like "almost a false hope that was thrown out there."

However, Loh said straying from the commission's recommendation by extending the deadline would jeopardize the university's goal of balancing its operating budget by 2015.

"I am held accountable for one thing, and the whole university is held accountable: We balance this budget," Loh said. "We will not back down from that plan because the regents and the legislature expect me to balance the budget. I will not run a deficit."

Loh hopes the teams can be saved but said he's limited in what he can do in part by the emphasis on revenue-generating sports. In Division I football, teams can offer up to 85 full scholarships. On the Terps football team, 81 players are under scholarship, Dull said, and 70 saw the field last season.

"The fundamental system of funding athletics in this country has to be reformed," Loh said. "You do the math and you can quickly see how you can support some of the other teams that were cut."

Although Loh added he has proposed the possibility of limiting the number of scholarships at meetings with other NCAA university presidents, many are not receptive. For now, Loh said, the university is simply focusing on the task at hand.